Fate-Ani Xver
by chronomasakari
Summary: The Holy Grail War is a battle between mages to bring forth the Holy Grail with the winner getting any wish granted. The battles are battles are fought between Servants; that is, heroic spirits of legend across the ages. However this time something was wrong, the heroic spirits of legend are nowhere to be found, in their place are... anime characters?
1. Prologue

"I ask of you: Are you my Master?"

This girl staring down on me while I was seated on the floor asked. I'm in a very bad situation now and her appearance doesn't make things much better.

"Hey, speak up kid."

She spoke up, a little louder this time. I understand a bit of this whole master deal, but something about this situation is very, very wrong.

"Hn-" I couldn't even make out words.  
"Hey, speak up idiot. I can't hear you!"

She is clearly growing agitated, and I couldn't help but turn my head slightly while blushing. It's not like I'm intentionally ignoring her; while I'm not great with words it's not like I'm shy and am unable to normally communicate with others. However…

The girl who stood before me had black hair, or maybe dark blue, slightly flared out. She wore a stern face and her red bang on one side tapered away. Even ignoring her scowl she would normally be called cute if you were just admiring her face.

"What's wrong with you? Did I really get paired with such a useless person?" She said while poking me with her sword.

No, it wasn't a sword. No matter how I looked at it, this was one side of a pair of scissors. It was crimson in color, so even though her poking me drew a little blood it blended right in with the weapon.

But her cute face, or dangerous looking weapon weren't what left my speechless. As she closed the distance and put her face closer to mine, my face became a much brighter red. I turned my head hard to the left while looking away and finally she glanced down.

"Wh-What the hell am I wearing? What did that old guy dress me up in? Is he some kind of pervert!"

What stopped me from looking out of embarrassment was her outfit. I guess it could be called a sailor uniform, a semi-standard uniform for Japanese female students, however the top barely covered the top half of her chest, and her "skirt", if it could be called that was barely inches long, and was dangling onto a pair of straps from her top about as low as they could for any form of public decency.

She sighed, "Well, whatever it's not like I'm not used to this type of outfit. Damn I know I told him what my wish was but I didn't want it granted half-assed like this! Hey, kid. Let's start over, are you my master or not?"  
"Y-yeah, I guess I am"  
"Alright, then let's form our contract!"

She looked really excited for some reason, I was a little bit scared. But before such emotions could carry my thoughts very far she plunged her sword, scissor blade, whatever, straight onto my left hand that I had been resting on the floor. I almost screamed in pain until I realized it didn't hurt. When she withdrew her weapon I looked where her sword had pierced me. A mark was left, it looked like a crimson red tattoo, almost matching with her sword. It looked like an extravagant pair of scissors over a diagonal crescent moon. According to the information I received the other day this was probably my command seal.

"Alright Master, pact's formed… and uh, am I supposed to call you Master? It feels weird"  
"It's fine, my names Ryouichi Kobayashi"

"Alright Ryo it is, fits you much better than Master. You don't have the dignified appearance of one after all," she laughed.

Somehow I feel like I was being insulted.

"Alright now let's go kick some ass!"

She grinned at me, turned around in the classroom I was in and rushed straight to the window.

"W-wait, this is the third story!"  
"Hah, say that sooner, idiot! Just kidding, as if I care about little details like that."

She jumped out the window without even opening, using her hands and arms to cover her face. I ran towards the window half-expecting to see the worst, however what I saw was against the realm of physics, instead of falling straight down, about halfway to the ground she placed her feet on the wall and ran down the wall until she hit the ground and continued forward for a little bit. She glanced back up at me and screamed, "Stay up there you'll be safer!"

She ran towards the open field I had previously run away from, but I guess I should explain why I, why all of us are in a situation like this.

* * *

I'm Ryouichi Kobayashi, average Japanese high school student. I don't do anything overly poorly or well and don't stand out at all. Well I guess if you look up my family tree we're descended from an important family but that doesn't mean much in today's world.

My story begins a few days ago, I received a letter in the mail. Rather than a letter, it was an extravagant invitation looking envelope. Upon opening it I looked at the letterhead. A cross? Was this from a church? I'm not even Christian why did this come to me? I glanced down and began to read.

 _Greetings Master Candidate,_

 _You have been sent this invitation because you have been chosen as one of the 7 potential candidates in the area to take place in the next Holy Grail War. This is a sacred event that allows us to bear witness to the great Holy Grail of legend. Momentarily someone will be there to take you to our Church where I will explain further._

 _P.S. Participation is not optional._

This looked like junk mail, I crumpled it up and tossed it in the wastebasket. A moment later, the doorbell rang. I was the only one home so I went to get the answer it, "Yeah I'm coming!"

I went to the door and unlocked it. What greeted me was a sight right out of an old American alien film, two men dressed in jet-black suits, wearing dark sunglasses with clean-cut haircuts. I couldn't get many thoughts out as shortly after one of them chopped at my neck and I faded to blackness.

* * *

As I awoke, I stood up on a long wooden bench. I glanced around and saw several wooden benches, as well as a podium with a cross on it. However I wasn't alone, looking around I saw 6 others all looking like they just woke up too, maybe they were taken by the men in black too? Wait, there was a little girl in the front right bench swinging her legs casually, clutching to a stuffed dog. I guess even elite government agents were nice to children.

We looked up at the podium as one of the men in suits took to it, lined up behind him were several of them all dressed the same; however the one on the podium stood out among all of them despite wearing the same outfit. The reason was he was clean shaven, from head to toe, or at least his head and parts that were visible. It looked as if a single hair didn't grow on him, and the light from the chandelier above us shone off his head, almost blindingly.

He glanced down at us and spoke, "Greetings Master Candidates, I am the host of your event."

Our event? I thought, was this optional?

Of the seven of us, a boy sat in the back right on a bench alone, he put two fingers on his half-frame glasses and pushed the frame up before speaking, "Our event? I believe the letter said it wasn't optional and you dragged us out of our homes to be here."

Yeah, you tell him glasses guy. His looks, his attitude, I bet he was a class rep- no, even student council president! You could usually tell these things by looking.

"Oh they didn't do any mean things to get me here, they just told me they could bring back Zwei!" The little girl in front happily exclaimed while holding up her stuffed animal for all of us to see.

"As you can see, there is benefit for you to participate in as well. The winner of our event will be granted one wish, any wish. No wish is beyond the realm of possibility of the Holy Grail."

Everyone else seemed to perk up a bit from hearing this. I didn't really care much, didn't have much to wish for after all. But at this point given that they had us abducted from our homes I felt like it would've been more of a hassle to try to wiggle my way out of it.

"Very well, it appears I've gotten your attention. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mr. Smith, the priest of this church."

I don't think any of us believed him.

"The Holy Grail War is a long-standing tradition that has happened numerous times. Think of it as a large scale tournament"

"So, are we gonna draw lots and fight in some arena?" A skinny boy near me asked. His hair was bleach blonde and spiky, and his shirt with its sleeves ripped off exposed his twig arms. On closer glance he appeared to have somewhat toned muscles so maybe he works out? Didn't do much though.

"As much as I would like to see that, unfortunately the Holy Grail War is much more primitive in execution. To put it simply, it is a battle royale between you Master Candidates."

Hey, what the hell? I better not end up with a pot lid as a starter weapon.

"But do not worry, it is not so primitive you will simply be fighting each other in some grand melee. All of you are deemed at least as potential mages, some of you may realize your potential or even come from traditional mage families, this battle be based upon that."

These guys connections must run deep. It's as he said, while the Kobayashi family isn't exactly some type of historical mage family, apparently if you go back far enough we branched off a sister family of some big mage family whose name was forgotten over time. I even tried to learn a little magic but I couldn't do much besides really basic spells. I could never do anything technology couldn't already do but better, so I sort of stopped practicing.

"S-So, are we supposed to be fighting with our magic? I… don't really know how to use Magic" A reserved girl spoke up. Well, spoke up is a bit of an exaggeration, it was more of a whisper. She had her green hair done in a large braid and wore large glasses. Looked to be a standard bookworm type.

"That isn't the primary method of fighting but it is not against the rules. The primary method is through the summoning of a _servant;_ one of seven major hero archetypes. These are legendary heroes of old, gathered across time from the Holy Grail itself…. Is what I'd like to say…" Mr. Smith seemed a bit depressed.

"What do you mean, you'd like to say?"

This time a other boy spoke up, he had grey-hair and rose up from the back Like most of the rest of us he wore some type of school uniform so he must be in the same boat as us, getting abducted from home before we even had a chance to change.

"Well, that is the Holy Grail is a bit off. While preparing for the event, we learned that it is unable to summon traditional heroes of legend. Honestly, we're not sure what it's going to summon, hopefully they're not scary monsters huh?"

The not-so-priestly priest said something very disturbing.

"Awwwww, I hope I can fight with something cute~" A bubbly girl spoke up leaning forward on her bench. She had bright red hair, tied in a pair of twin-tails. She spoke as if she had no care in the world, or more accurately nothing to fear. Was it air-headedness or confidence I pondered to myself.

"Do not worry, they will be heroic in some form, that is an iron-clad rule. However the power output of the Grail is not strong enough to draw from the pool of legendary heroes it maintains, so the servants this time around may be…. Less heroic then usual. However do not worry they are bound to obey you within reason. While they may possess personalities of their own, it's in their best interest to respond to you. You will also be given a set of command seals that will serve as an ultimate order to allow you force them to listen to you, there are limitations behind them but you can figure that out as you go."

This wanna-be sci-fi villain sure likes to avoid explaining important details…

* * *

After we were released from the church, we all proceeded our separate ways. The student council president-looking guy looked like he wanted to speak to one of us, but turned and walked away. I wasn't really sure who he was trying to talk to but it didn't matter much.

Before we were released we were told how to summon our servants. Basically the process entailed making a magic circle, and using a catalyst to bond a spirit to our world. Ideally the catalyst would be something that would inspire thoughts of a strong hero in our mind, but apparently it really didn't matter much. Afterwards we would infuse some magic into the circle and poof, our servant should show up. Also the magic circle didn't have to be specific in design, the words from the priest were something like "Just follow your heart". His personality and looks really didn't match up at all. There was a bit of an unknown because of the whole "We're not really sure what's gonna come out" thing but we had our command seals to force our servants to obey.

I honestly considered abandoning this whole deal but the priest said there was a winner. Which meant there were losers, so there would be a good chance I'd get targeted at some point. Trying to win the thing seemed pretty inconvenient but it was probably a bad idea to act unprotected from here on out. We were assured that our lives or the lives of those around us weren't in danger in this fight as the grail would fix everything.

I lost myself in thought and walked around a bit, I decided to go towards my school, after all if I wanted to do this I should do this away from home. It's not like my parents are ever home but I'm not sure what kind destruction a summoning would cause so better to at least do it somewhere open.

Arriving at the school, I looked around a bit to ensure it was empty. I decided to do it in the baseball field. I could probably use the mound to draw the magic circle. Of course I didn't know who or what would get summoned, if I did it on a baseball mound would I summon Ichiro?

As I approached the baseball field I saw a shimmer of light in the distance. It was closing rapidly and I had a bad feeling about it. Following my instincts to duck the object whirred over my head. I turned around and saw a beautiful silver spear. Hey weren't our lives not supposed to be in danger? In what way is that not dangerous!?

"Please don't dodge, I'd like to end this as fast as possible. A second later, a young girl no more than 14 or 15 appeared by the spear. She wore a traditional school uniform with a white top, blue skirt and blue accents on her top. She grasped the spear in her right hand and thrust towards me. By sheer luck, I tripped up and fell down dodging the spear low as my head hit the ground. It hurt, but the pain indicated I was alive. As I glanced up I saw pure white. Maybe I was dead after all? Out of instinct I reached out for it...

But what I felt was definitely not the "light". By feel alone instead of a warm, enveloping light they were silky in texture.

"Kya!"

I had a bad feeling about this.

"Y-you… are all Masters into such lewd acts!" She screamed and slapped my hand away. I ran into a generic love-comedy situation I never expected to see in real life. Flustered, she kicked me away. Well instead of a kick it was more like a punt, by the time I was done I had traveled over the baseball field and into one of the third story classrooms. While it definitely hurt, I was apparently still alive. It must have something to do with the whole "Our lives weren't in danger" business.

At this point I had little time to waste. I needed help to defend against the girl, so I felt it was time to try out this summoning ritual; it was the reason I came to school in the first place after all. I ran towards the board and picked up a marker. I intended to draw the circle with a dry-erase marker but apparently they were out of ink when I tested them. What the hell who was on duty!?

I looked around and couldn't see anything, I also needed a catalyst. Something, something that would make me think of a hero. All I saw were desks, maybe if I found something that looked like a weapon here- as if! This is a classroom there wouldn't be any weapons here!

Browsing anything and everything around me, I looked into the trash bin by the Teacher's desk. In the bin I saw a pair of scissors that had broken into the two halves. This was probably the best I could do. I reached and grabbed one of the halves. Looking around to see what I could make my circle with, I couldn't find anything. I came to a chilling conclusion and looked at the broken pair of scissors in my hand.

Normally, I hate doing anything I don't need to. I'm not lazy per se, but if I don't need to do something I prefer not to do it. However apparently in a life or death situation my flight or fight response removes those inhibitions from my personality, because what I did without even thinking was beyond anything I could've imagined myself doing.

I cut open my right index finger with the pair of scissors, drawing a decent amount of blood. I immediately got on the ground and drew a medium sized circle. I didn't think of what I wanted to draw, I was just drawing; after all our circle should be from the heart. I drew a slightly smaller circle giving it a double-layer look. Inside the second circle I drew a star and a little dot on between the two circles next to each point. Looking at it closely I basically drew a pentagram with blood. Whatever I summoned might be even worse than the girl trying with the spear, is what I should've thought but instead I grabbed the handle of the broken scissors and thrust it into the ground infusing magic into the handle. Even without anything in the way of formal training, basic mana manipulation like this was as natural as flipping a switch. I was thrown back as I was blinded by a flashing light.

* * *

Apparently, I'm to be called Saber, an old guy dressed in all white told me before beckoning me into a portal. This isn't a situation most girls would normally fall into let alone agree with, but he said I could have any wish granted if I followed through with it, and… well there's someone I have to meet again no matter what. The one who was with me through thick and thin. It's why I went through with this and why I found myself once again in battle in a somewhat familiar uniform with a weapon I thought was gone forever.

To get this wish granted, however, I need to win. I was summoned by an unreliable looking guy so I'm probably going to have to do this alone, but first things first is to keep him safe. Something about our contract must've given me some insight to his thoughts because I know before I arrived he was attacked by a this girl standing before me, wielding a spear.

I kicked off the ground and flew towards her, drawing my blade back.

*clank*

Our weapons met as I approached and slashed towards her neck. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. I pulled back and slashed at her chest diagonally, she repelled it with the base of her spear and spun around pushing me back and thrusting toward me. I leaped back gaining my distance.

She sprinted towards me and thrust the spear into the ground, using it as a pole vault she flipped into the air slamming the spear on the ground as if it were a hammer. I took a step back, and stepped onto the spearhead to keep it on the ground. I definitely had her this time, I swung my blade straight towards her neck.

"Young Lightning!"

Before I could react she had given my abdomen a weak palm strike. However what followed was a secondary impact which almost felt like electricity flowing through my body. I was blown back a few feet from the impact. A normal person might've gone quite a ways from an attack like that.

The distance between us gave the spear user the clear advantage. I was hesitant to make a move and we stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity. As if to break the silence, she gathered her spear in one hand, pulled back and launched it straight at my head.

No, it was just a few inches above my head. Did she miss? For a split second I considered countering, but she was too skilled to make a simple mistake like that. Finally I realized what lie behind me on a third story room.

"Oh no you don't!" I used all my strength to kick off the ground. I arrived on the wall above my Ryo just a moment before the spear did and swat it away with my scissor blade.

She dashed towards the spear and picked it up before I could try to take advantage of the situation. Staring each other down we took a brief reprieve from the fight.

"Tch, you're pretty good, what's your name?" I genuinely complimented her. It's not like I had any reason to hate her. After going through so many battles I wasn't sure I could lose to anyone, let alone someone who looked to be my junior a few years.

"It's customary to give your name when you ask for someone else's isn't it?"  
"Yeah I guess that's rude of me, apparently we're not supposed to use our real names, I'm called Saber."  
"... I'm supposed to be called Lancer. Sword Shaman of the Lion King Organization"  
"..."

"..."

"I-I think I know what you want to ask. I'm a "sword" shaman… right?"

She nailed it. Furthermore she called herself Lancer, given that I'm Saber it'd make more sense for a "Sword Shaman" to be a Saber like me.

"It's just a title given to us, don't think too much into it please…"  
"Got it."  
"And um… before we continue… would you like to cover up a bit more?" She blushed looking away.

I rested my head on my hand and sighed. It's been a little bit since I've worn something like this but I've lost any sense of shame long ago. Since my opponent was being so sincere I couldn't help but respond in kind with the truth.

"Uh, well, I'm not sure how it works now but previously I used to get stronger the more skin I exposed…. And I imagine the guy who sent us over here had something to do with it."  
"How lecherous… is everything involved with this Holy Grail War deviant in nature?"  
"I… you may be right..."

We stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. As if to break the silence we both readied our weapons and got in a battle stance prepared to re-engaged… however what we heard put us both on guard.

 _Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark,_

 _I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson,_

An unknown girl's words resounded through the area. It felt like it was coming from everywhere at once so it was difficult to pinpoint the location, but both of us were looking around for her just the same.

 _The time of awakening cometh.  
Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,_

It continued, by now we realized that it was coming from over the school's PA system. Without knowledge as to where the broadcast room was there wasn't much we could currently do.

 _Appear now as an intangible distortion!_

 _I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force:_

Now we had both been on guard, prepared for anything. We even turned opposite directions and backed into each other almost as if we were about to combine forces for this unknown attack.

 _A destructive force without equal!_

 _Return all creation to cinders and come forth from the abyss._

After what seemed like an eternity of chanting, it seemed we were nearing the end. As the chant wound down something felt wrong about the space between us. Instinctively we both leaped away from each other just before the area was consumed by in light. It created a large magic circle and light shot up towards the sky from it. Continuing to run away, I realized we made the right decision.

"Explosion!"

The area we were just in was consumed in an explosion of epic proportions.


	2. Chapter 1: Enter the Archwizard!

Chapter 1

An alarm clock blares. 05:30 flashes on the LED screen. I sleepily turn it off and go back to sleep.

Another clock blares a few minutes later. I turn off the second clock positioned close to the first clock. Just when I feel the wondrous sensation of sleep about to overtake me a third blares on my desk, far out of my reach. I scramble to cover my ears for a moment before I give up and get up to turn it off.

Yawning I begin to put on my school uniform. Top, check. Glasses, check. Socks, check. I should be good now. Facing my waist high mirror on my dresser, I begin to wrap my long hair into one large braid. I proceed to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast, consisting just of toast and coffee. After consuming my breakfast in a few bites and swallowing my coffee, too late realizing I forgot to put sugar in it, I step outside into the world.

It's just about dawn, the light from the rising sun blinds my eyes momentarily. I also notice a bit of a draft down below. Looking down to see the cause my face turns bright red and I rush back inside. What I exposed the whole world too was a clear shot at my bright white undergarments.

"I hope nobody saw…"

As you may be able to tell, I am clearly not a morning person, but even this morning's incident tops my usual inability to get myself ready for the day. I hurriedly rush back to my room and put on my plaid skirt for my school uniform and rush out the door grabbing my bag on my way out..

"I'm off!" I say to no one in particular. I live alone with my mom who stays away for weeks at a time for work so I'm often left to my own devices. She used to worry I wouldn't be able to get myself up everyday but through sheer willpower and the help of 3 loud alarm clocks I haven't had any major issues.

The walk to school has always been one of the pleasant experiences of my day. Ever since I transferred here last year I've enjoyed it. I pass by many trees and cross over a quaint wooden bridge before arriving. On good days the walk invigorates me enough to knock me out of my drowsiness; today is not one of those days.

"Good morning, Akane" A girl running by greets me, she looks to be late for morning practice from the looks of it.  
"Good morn-" My yawn interrupts my greeting. She turns around and giggles for a second before continuing on. I don't know her very well but this type of exchange between us is common in the mornings so at the very least she's what you would call an acquaintance. I don't have any friends here, a combination of transferring here in the middle of the school year last year and having difficulty talking to new people, so I treasure any interactions I have with people.

My school day passes much like normal. There's a steady repetition of falling asleep in my homeroom class before slowly waking up throughout the day. I grab some bread from the cafeteria shop before proceeding to the vending machine to get a can of coffee. There's a tree with a bench a bit aways from the main building in the yard I like to eat lunch at since it's quiet and secluded. I finish up the remainder of my classes and head home.

Upon arriving at home I notice there's an envelope addressed to me, Akane Saito. It's an extravagant little envelope the contents of which would change my life forever…

* * *

I'm too embarrassed to admit it, but I have a dream. It's less of a dream but more of a childhood fantasy. I've always wished I could become someone else; someone who is confident and well-liked by everyone. As a kid I loved watching the Mahou Shoujo anime. Girls with the utmost confidence in themselves use their powers to protect the smiles of everyone, something like that. That's probably what started it.

As I grew older, I started to feel a strange anxiety well up inside me. It felt like pent-up energy that I couldn't release so as a kid I think it used to drive my mom crazy. Raising me by myself couldn't be easy but she rarely showed much frustration. One day she sat down and talked to me about it.

"Listen Akane. It's important for you to know a bit about your family history."  
"Is it about gramps?" A much younger me asked curiously.

"No it's about your dad…"

She never talked about him much. She always said he ran off to do whatever he wanted and she'd prefer never to see him again for the rest of her life. However at this time she pulled out a medium sized box featuring countless small jewels, but something was off about them. They looked like they should be shining but for some reason they looked completely lifeless.

"See, your dad is what you'd call a mage, I guess. He explained to me that you might become like this one day. Come to think of it he was just preparing to leave us behind… that good-for-nothing. He explained to me that you needed something to vent your magic into until you learned to control it and left these behind, here try it."

My mom handed me one of the lifeless jewels, it was a dull red. I wasn't sure want to do with it and mom had a "Here try it!" look on her face as she handed it to me. As I grabbed it, I just concentrated on the gem and squeezed it tightly. Shortly afterwards it began to glow bright crimson.

I think it was at this point I decided to become a mage, like the girls from those magical girl anime I loved. The thought that my dream might've been within my reach excited me.

However, without formal training or anybody in the way to guide me I never learned to actually do anything, I simply put my energy into that crimson gem at the end of the day to alleviate my magic. I sometimes used the other gems, but this particular gem was my favorite so I used it most of all. I like to tell myself that this is the reason why I have difficulty getting up in the morning even though I'm probably lying to myself.

These days I wear that crimson jewel on my neck, at some point I attached it to the end of a small replica wand and wear it on a chain like a cute necklace. I should've outgrown it now that I'm in high school but I guess it's not that easy to let go of your dreams.

* * *

The seven of us separated in front of the church, I didn't really know how to interact with them, we were all in competition with each other after all. And, for the first time in my life I think, I had a way to accomplish my dream, to become one of those heroes of my youth. In a way I thought this would make me a stronger person.

I already knew what my catalyst was going to be. It has been my image of a hero since I was a kid and it never left my grasp. I ran down the street looking for an open and secluded area. I found a little park that was empty at this time of night. Going towards the sandbox I began to draw one of the magical circles I saw on the anime I watched as a kid. It was rough, but it was an outer ring filled with characters I didn't understand (of course I didn't memorize the characters I just drew things that looked like runes to me) with an inner circle mirroring it with a square to separate it. I took off my necklace and stuck it in the ground with the crimson jewel facing upwards. It seemed to shine brighter than normally. Before I could do anything else, a light consumed the area and I had to cover my eyes.

When the light cleared and I regained my vision, a young petite girl stood before me. She looked to be a few years younger than me but the way she carried herself with such confidence made me envy her. She looked strong. Holding her staff in her right hand and her left hand lifted up a large mage hat showing part of her face to include an eyepatch on her left eye.

"You have done well to summon me, Master!" she exclaimed boldly, "I am the greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demons, I am Caster!"  
"You're the Archwizard Caster?"  
"Hngh- No that's what I was told to call myself but I can't do it, to forsake my glorious name would be a sin against my family and a slight of undeniable proportions against the Crimson Demon Clan, I am the Archwizard, Megumin! Wielder of the most powerful magic known to mankind, Explosion!"

I began to clap excitedly, I stopped myself after realizing what I was doing. I felt like I was back in the living room watching anime as a kid. She doesn't look like the typical magical girl, more of a western inspired mage design, but the way she spoke and carried herself left me in awe.

I was a bit embarrassed and began to apologize but she stopped me, seemingly enjoying the attention.

"You seem to have a good sense, Master, you have earned the right to be referred to by name"  
"You're not supposed to call me Master?"  
"Fool! Those of the Crimson Demon Clan would never stoop so low as to call someone Master!"  
"B-but, didn't you just call me Master?"

Megumin stared at me blankly. She seemed at a loss for words for the first time.

"Th-that was just because I knew not what else to call you! I referred to you by the name of Master not actually acknowledging you as my Master!"  
"Sorry!" I apologized not really understanding the situation but I was afraid I insulted her accidentally. "My name is Akane, pleased to meet you."

I stuck my right hand out for a handshake. She looked at it momentarily before smacking it with her staff. The back of my hand burned slightly and next thing I know an emblem appeared where she had struck me. Dyed in crimson, it looked like a staff with a jewel at the tip over a full moon.

"Alright contract's formed, Akane! Now in recognition of your magical ability to be able to summon the great Megumin, I'll demonstrate for you the strongest spell known to man!"

A magical circle formed beneath her as she began to mouth words. I immediately grabbed her and covered her mouth to stop her.

"Um, please don't cast here, it'll disturb the neighbors!"

She looked a little disappointed. She began to look out frantically, probably looking somewhere to cast her spell. She perked up immediately and pointed off to the distance.

"Do not worry, Akane! I will yet be able to demonstrate to you the power of Explosion. I sense a battle taking place over there, there is one servant in that direction"  
"Oh you can tell?"  
"It is such a trivial matter for an Archwizard as great as I, now Akane, let's go!"

She grabbed my hand with her left hand, and with her right hand she appeared to begin to throw her staff, except instead of letting go she went along with it. Before I knew it we were high up in the air.

Don't look down, don't look down… I continued to tell myself that. But at some point my curiosity got the better of me and I looked down, the houses and buildings in the area appeared to be small ants. I let out a scream.

"Hahaha! This is the best! I wish I could do this at home!"

It seemed like Megumin could only fly here, I thought about asking about it but between the fear of falling and thinking it might upset her I kept my mouth shut.

* * *

"U-um, are you sure this is what you want to do?"  
"Of course! This the first time this world will have seen Explosion magic cast by the greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demon Clan!"  
"But isn't it better to surprise them?"  
"Hngh-! No absolutely not, the power of my explosion magic is amplified by the more people who hear my incantation for it!"

According to Megumin, shortly after we arrived, a second Servant appeared and a battle had broken out between the two. Megumin insisted on getting into the middle of it and casting explosion but I advised against it. She explained to me that she wanted as many people as possible to hear her so I suggested we use the broadcast room to push out her voice over the PA system in the school we had visited.

Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark,

I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson,  
The time of awakening cometh.

Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,

Appear now as an intangible distortion!

I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force:

A destructive force without equal!

Return all creation to cinders and come forth from the abyss.

While she was chanting, a large magic circle appeared in the field far off below her. She threw open the window yelling "Burst, forth, Explosion!" pointing her staff in the direction. What followed was what I could only think of as sheer destructive power. Anything caught inside that explosion was sure to have burned down into cinders.

I was still gazing out the window, completely dumbstruck by the amount of magic power and destructive force of her spell. Was I really able to summon such a powerful Servant? It seemed almost too good to be true

Megumin let out a sigh of satisfaction before plomping on the ground, "That really is the best…"

"Um, Megumin, are you okay?"

"I might need a little help to move…" She seemed to be completely out of energy. I reached my hand out to help her get up. She reached for it and I attempted to pick her up but we ended up both falling over.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized profusely while getting up and dusting myself off. She was still lifeless laying on the ground beneath me.  
"Wait… this feels different than usual…" Megumin said as she began struggling to get up. She managed to pick herself up and for some reason looked really triumphant, as if she just climbed the top of Mt. Fuji.

"Hahaha! Akane it seems our connection allows me to conserve just enough energy to be able to move. It still seems like my limit is one explosion though…" she seemed sad.

"Well don't feel bad, you could always use your other spells in a fight…"

She stared at me blankly.

"Akane, there for a Crimson Demon, explosion magic is the greatest magic one would ever have the pleasure of using, for myself all other forms of magic are beneath me."  
"So you don't have any other spells?"  
"What else would I need besides explosion?"

She looked at me real matter of factly. She certainly was powerful but this seemed like too severe of a disadvantage…


	3. Chapter 2: The Path of Explosions

Chapter 2

Poke.

My consciousness begins to awaken with the physical stimulation of something touching my cheek.

Poke. Poke.

I attempt to slap it away and lose myself in blissful sleep once more.

Poke. Poke. .

"Nnn- Alright I'm up, I'm up. What is it Megumin?" I lazily turn my head towards her. Because of my small bed our faces are almost touching. I wouldn't feel right if I made her sleep on the ground and when I tried to rest on the ground myself Megumin ended up looking at me puzzled and told me we could share. Apparently in the past she's had less than accommodating circumstances so she was perfectly fine with it. It was kind of nice, almost like we were sisters.

"Explosion time Akane, I have to go get my daily practice in."  
"Um, I have to get ready for school… wait, if you use explosion now won't be unable to use it later?"  
"Tch-" She grimaced looking away, "It's your fault I can't cast more than one a day anyway! I'm probably limited by your mana capacity."  
"S-sorry that I'm so useless, I'm not an experienced mage, I only know basic mana manipulation."

I got up and opened a drawer from my desk; inside sparkled numerous jewels of all colors. I explained that on a regular basis I poured my excess mana into these regularly. She seemed a little satisfied.  
"Worry not, Akane. Having summoned me, you are more than capable of being a mage, I shall show you how to cast the greatest magic known to mankind, Explosion! There is no better way to relieve your mana than to practice your Explosion daily!"  
"Really? I haven't ever had a chance to learn a spell, what do I do?"  
"Well, don't you just pull out your adventure card and put points into it?"  
"My what?" I rub my eyes a little. It's earlier than usual for me and it's affecting my cognition, but even taking that into consideration I couldn't make heads or tails of what she was saying.

"Hmph, this world seems to have an annoying way to learn new skills… Normally just seeing me use my magic would give you the ability to learn it, but I'm not sure how to teach you otherwise.

She frowned, disappointed that she couldn't be of help. I felt bad she did seem like she was trying to do something for my sake.

"D-Don't worry about it, please. We have some time so maybe we could figure something out."

For whatever reason she seemed really intent on teaching me Explosion, well it's fine I guess, I always wanted to learn how to use my magic somehow but this seems like a pretty big leap from someone who can't even use basic magic spells.

I begin getting ready for school, ensuring I have all my clothes on before I leave my room. We go to the kitchen and I prepare a simple breakfast for both of us.

"Hmph, Crimson Demons don't need to eat."

Her words and actions don't seem to match, as she began spreading jam on the toast and wolfing it down.

"We don't need to eat but we can still appreciate delicious things!" As if reading my thoughts, she clarified. I offered her some coffee but she spit it out as soon as she tried it. I had also brewed some tea just in case so I poured her a cup and she seemed satisfied with that.

"Um, I have to go to school, but I'm not sure if you could walk around like that."  
"Worry not, I used my last skill points improving the range. I can wait here and shoot an explosion well beyond what I can even see to protect you!"  
"How will you know where to shoot it if you can't see?"  
"Hngh-"

She seemed startled.

"That's why you're here obviously! You'll tell me where to cast it telepathically."  
"How will I do that?"  
"For a Crimson Demon, telepathy with those we are connected with is a breeze!"  
 _Like this! Explosion!  
_ Having thoughts of nothing but a large explosion engulfing an open field my mind goes blank for a moment.

"P-Please don't cast explosion in my mind!"  
"Tch, stingy."

"Still, these Crimson Demons must be impressive, explosions, telepathy, are all you guys so amazing?"  
"Fufufu, so you've realized the true power of the Crimson Demons, as expected of a Master capable of summoning me. Worry not Akane, I can keep you safe from any distance, just imagine the area you want engulfed in explosion, I can even engulf the entirety of your school."  
"P-please don't destroy my school!"

Leaving her with that, I tell her how to use our DVD player and told her to rummage through our DVD's to keep her entertained while I'm gone. I grab my bag and head out the door, saying "I'm off."

"Come back soon," Megumin replied.

Hearing a response I can't help but feel a little happy inside. Our home is a bit lively with someone else in it.

* * *

My typically peaceful commute is interrupted by flashes of explosion in my mind. I'm not sure if it's my memory playing it back in my head or if Megumin is sending them to me telepathically. After an explosion filled jaunt to school, I arrive at the gate to see it closed. The girl who is usually late for morning practice approaches me.

"Akane, apparently they closed the school temporarily."  
"Huh, why?"  
"I dunno, the gate was closed and all the lights were off. There's a sign on the door that says _Closed for Construction."_

Looking over her shoulder at the gate, I notice a large white sign saying just that, on the bottom right of the sign is a picture of a smiling bald man giving a thumbs up. Come to think of it that looks like the priest we met from the Church the other day. Their group seems to have a lot of power.

"But, there doesn't seem to be any construction… or anyone even in the area."

 _Hey, Akane? Are you there? Guess what! The weird looking priest guy gave me some extra mana and told me I can cast explosion!  
_ I had a bad feeling about this.

 _Wielding the glorious explosion magic, I am the servant Caster_

 _This blow I am given turns a blind eye to the fate of my Master_

 _Severing both hope and despair alike_

I begin to panic, I try to speak up to tell people to back away but it seems like no one is hearing me. The morning practice girl looks at me puzzled.

I'm pretty shy normally, it's difficult for me to speak in public. But I didn't want to see people getting hurt. Mustering my courage I give all my effort I scream to the crowd in front of me…

"Take cover!"

Sensing the fear in my voice the ones closest to the gate back up, just a moment later…

 _Bathe thyself in a pool of crimson blood_  
 _Burst forth, explosion!_

Our school was consumed in a large scale explosion. What was once the school was now a crater The explosion was controlled to the point where it didn't reach the gate so, seeing nobody was hurt, I dashed home.

* * *

Throwing open the door at home, I quickly take off my shoes and yell "I'm back!"  
"Welcome back" Megumin exclaims to me.

She was planted on the ground in our living room with a number of the the jewels from my room laid across the floor. She seemed to be doodling on the jewels while watching some of my old anime DVDs. The ending theme song from the one I used to watch as a kid was playing.

"Oh this _Magical Slayer Girl Megumi from Hell_ is pretty entertaining. Her magic and name are both inferior to mine of course, but it's interesting.

Come to think of it I wonder why it had such a title for a show designed for kids, but that was besides the point.

"Megumin! Why did you blow up my school?"  
"The priest told me to, he said it was to _facilitate the Holy Grail War_ or some such" Megumin said while trying to impersonate the dead-pan priest. It was such a cute impersonation that all anxiousness faded away from my body.

I sighed and plopped down next to Megumin. While watching another episode of _Magical Slayer Girl Megumi_ from Hell I pull up the news on my phone to see if there's anything similar going on. Apparently there were 5 other schools all scheduled for simultaneously demolition and reconstruction within the area. These agent folks really were from a powerful group weren't they?

"I'm finished!" Megumin declared excitedly. Her enthusiasm startled me.  
"Wh-what is it?"  
"Here!"

She threw one of the jewels she was fiddling with at me. Looking closely I saw a magic circle etched on it. Turning it around to the other side was the face of a smiling girl wearing a mage hat giving a thumbs up. This particular type of image was still fresh in my mind, and I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

"Um… Megumin, what's this about?"  
"The jewels are essentially containers of mana with no spells attached to them so they are effectively useless except to supplement our magical capacity, but that doesn't mean anything to us; You can't cast spells and my Explosion would take too many of them to be able to use at one time. So I etched the Explosion magic onto all of these jewels so that by injecting a little mana to activate them, they could turn into mini explosion gems!"  
"Y-you turned them all into grenades?"  
"Grenades? If those explode, sure I guess they're grenades."

She said such a dangerous sentence so nonchalantly. Looking around I saw a handful of my jewels laid across the ground with a similar pattern as well as a small bag full. I thought about asking where the rest of them were but maybe it was better I didn't know.

"Aren't they going to be dangerous in here?"  
"Nope! I fashioned them so that only you or I could activate them. Just add a little mana and get ready. They're far inferior to my usual Explosion but at least now I can use Explosion all day!"

She had an evil smile on her face. There was a glint in her eye behind her eye-patch. I sighed and wondered how her usual companions handled her every day.

* * *

Insisting on trying out the jewels, she grabbed her bag of jewels and dragged me out the door. She tried to hand me a similar bag but I was still scared of carrying so many. She wouldn't relent so I had to agree to carry a few with me. She insisted that we try these out together. If we weren't going to lob magic grenades, this might almost seem like going out with a friend. The thought excited me somewhat and helped relieve the dread of what I was carrying around with me.

Our first stop was a slightly far away from home. It was usually empty at night so I thought this might've been an okay location to choose, but once we got near we heard some music playing. It sounded like one of those bubbly idol songs but I didn't recognize it from anywhere. I was curious about it so I began to walk towards the crowd. On a small makeshift stage stood a girl with long black hair. She wore a baby blue dress with a pink ribbon on her chest. It was very cute and gave a nice contrast to her otherwise elegant looks.

"Everyone, thank you!" She began yelling at the crowd in front into her microphone, "This is the last one for the night."

The crowd seemed to groan. She seemed really skilled at playing to the crowd, I was kind of jealous. She had great looks, and seemed like such a happy outgoing girl, I mean you'd have to be to be able to wear that and say that type of thing right?

"Alright, let's go! This is Start:Dash!"

A catchy beat began to play from seemingly out of nowhere, but before I could get too into the song Megumin tugged on my sleeve.

"Something doesn't feel right about this area…" Megumin looked worried. "C'mon let's go on with our Explosion practice!"

It seemed like she was genuinely worried for a moment, but her usual self took over and dragged me away from the crowd before I could hear much of the song.

* * *

We found a big open area away from prying eyes. Hopefully we were far enough away that we wouldn't attract unwanted attention. I'm not sure how I'd be able to explain to the police about two high school girls making explosions in the evening. Megumin ensured me that this wouldn't be an issue. When I pressed for clarification she informed me civilians are naturally hesitant to enter any area where a Servant was active, it seemed like it was to help protect others against indirect fire from the Holy Grail War.

Arriving she told me, "C'mon, try it!" as she pulled out a jewel. Pulling one of my own we both looked towards the middle of the field.

"Burst forth, Explosion!" She yelled as she threw the jewel in her hand. I threw mine as well, too embarrassed to actually say anything. Her jewel exploded into a smaller scale version of her typical explosion. A large crimson red ball erupted from the jewel. Mine however, fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Akane! You aren't concentrating. You need to think of nothing other than Explosions while channeling mana into the jewel to activate it!"  
"That isn't what you told me…"  
"Less talking, more explosions!" She seemed to be scolding me.  
"R-right!"

I ran over, picked up the jewel that fell on the ground and came back to Megumin. Thinking of an explosion was relatively easy. I had seen two in person plus have had countless images of explosions pop in my head from Megumin. She told me she didn't intentionally send these thoughts into my head but likely were residual leakage from her typical thoughts. Her mind kind of scared me, but she was always such so happy it put me at ease.

I channeled mana while thinking of explosions, and tossed the jewel into the air. It exploded on a very small scale barely suitable enough to be called an explosion. Megumin looked somewhat satisfied. She threw another jewel at me and i juggled it a bit before catching it.

"P-please Megumin! That's dangerous" But the words fell on deaf ears as she simply laughed.  
"Akane, for the Crimson Demons, words act as a powerful focus for spells."

She was implying I also needed to call out the spell like she did. It was certainly embarrassing, and I wasn't sure if it would make a big difference but I resolved myself to try anyway.

"Burst forth, Explosion!" I screamed while throwing the jewel in front of us… or at least tried to until it slipped out of my hand. It fell just a foot away from the two of us at most. We glanced at each other, chuckling nervously before turning around. Barely completing a full turn, the explosion threw us back the across the field.

The pain was certainly there, but my body seemed to hold up without any major damage. I'm not this durable of a person normally, one time I broke my pinky trying to catch myself falling out of the shower. I figured this must've been part of the master-servant pact that helped keep us safe.

"Megumin, I'm so sorry are you alright!"  
"Haha! Akane that was great! You are truly awakening upon the path of Explosions!" She answered me laughing.  
"I'm not really sure if that makes me happy…" is what I said, but truthfully I began laughing alongside her just the same.

Megumin abruptly stopped and became serious.

"Akane, someone's coming, get ready."

"Okay" I said, getting up. There wasn't much I could do but at the very least I could ready a few of these jewels.

Something dropped onto the sky in front of us. It hit the ground with such impact that smoke and dust blew up in the air covering the entire field.

"Hah! Hah! Hah! Everything's fine now! Why? Because I'm here"

A large blonde haired man appeared from the smoke. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt. In fact, calling him large might be an understatement. Maybe a bear was the more appropriate term? He came out bearing a grin from cheek to cheek. It should've been an imposing sight, but his entrance, his appearance and speech, all of them were like out of a movie. Megumin and I stared wide-eyed and began clapping out of sheer instinct, as if we weren't a part of the scene.

Looking at the two of us, he put his hands on his hips and seemed to puff out his chest a little. It almost seemed as if he were striking a pose. Now that all the smoke cleared from the area, even calling him a bear might've been an understatement. Either one of his arms were bigger than either Megumin or me, maybe even both of us together. This was definitely a servant, and I had a bad feeling about this.

Megumin seemed to show no fear. She stepped up in front of me. Clutching her hat in one hand, and flailing her staff out with her other.

"Your impressive entrance has earned you the right to see mine own! It is I, Archwizard of the great Crimson Demon Clan. I am Megumin!"  
"Oh, I came here when I sensed an active servant, I didn't expect to meet a little girl here. I am the servant, Berserker."  
"I'm not little!"

So apparently our explosion practice sent out a beacon for him to come straight to us. I think I'd better have a talk to Megumin later…

 _This is bad, Akane. Normally Berserkers are supposed to stupidly strong and lose all form of thought and emotion other than rage. However he seems to have fully maintained his personality, he's definitely strong!_

Megumin communicated to me via our telepathic link something very scary. It seems like she's really just putting on a front here.

"I'm sorry to admit it, little girl but you cannot win. I'd prefer not to hurt you so please give up."

There was no conceit in his voice. Just pure absolute confidence. It wasn't like Megumin seemed all that inexperienced, despite her age she seemed to have seen her fair share of battle. But the aura these two exuded was that of a tiger and a cub.

"M-Megumin, we need to get out of here!" I tried to get her attention.

"Tch, to run away from this battle after being insulted and looked down upon so would be to tarnish the reputation of them Crimson Demon Clan! I am Megumin, the Servant Caster, here I go Berserker!" She yelled as she threw a jewel at Berserker. He caught it in his hand before exploding. The area was consumed in smoke but he emerged unharmed. Wait his fist was twitching slightly? It seemed to do some damage.

He sighed, "Well I guess I have to do this. I'll end this quickly in honor of your bravery Caster!"

Berserker took a step and flew towards Megumin. He swung his fist right for Megumin, putting a great deal of force behind it. It was an unbelievable sight, his fist was almost the size of Megumin's whole torso.

"Megumin!" I screamed worried about my friend.

Without any needless motion Megumin stepped back, thrust her staff forward and formed a magic circle to intercept the fist. She caught Berserker's fist and was thrown back but appeared uninjured. She chuckled out loud.

"My name is Megumin! Berserker I thought you were going to end this quickly!"  
"Oh, you're quite brave, girl. I apologize for not taking you seriously, you are a servant after all. Very well then to show you the proper respect, I'll give you everything I've got!"

Berserker sprinted towards Megumin, he threw his left fist, Megumin caught it with her staff. She spun around and hit the back of Berserker's head with her staff and used her foot to push herself away. Berserker turned around swinging his right fist towards Megumin, faster then she was backing away.

"Tch," She seemed caught off guard. A jewel dropped from her sleeve to her hand and she flicked it up to the space between them. It exploded knocking them both away from each other.

She pulled three jewels from her bag, gripping them between her fingers in her fist. She threw them one at a time towards Berserker, who took covered his face and was pushed back with each subsequent explosion.

The damage she was doing was minimal, but Megumin proved to be pretty skilled enough to protect herself at close range despite being a mage and not looking like a hardened close combat veteran.. Maybe something about being summoned as a servant made her better at fighting?

"Hah, very good Caster!"  
"My name is Megumin! Me-gu-min!"  
"Huh, I've been thinking about it for a while but isn't it dangerous to reveal your name to me, your opponent?"  
"As a member of the Crimson Demons, the two things I hold above all others are my name, and my magic. To forsake either would be to insult my heritage!"

I've heard something similar before.

"Besides, we're supposed to hide our identities to hide our abilities right? That makes sense for famous servants, but we're just regular people from other worlds right? No one would recognize our abilities anyway"

Megumin made a very astute observation, it quite honestly left me dumbfounded. Berserker shared a similar opinion as he began rubbing his chin in thought. Then finally he lightly hammers his fist onto his palm.

"Oh I get it, because we're not heroes summoned from this world we don't need to worry about having our names found out. Very well then, Megumin, to show my full respect requires me to give up my name, a name feared by all Villains that lurk in the darkness. The Symbol of Peace, All Might!"

Megumin jaw hit the floor.

"Oh! That's so cool!" She seemed genuinely impressed by his introduction, or maybe his name? I wasn't sure. Megumin, what happened to the intelligent and observant Megumin from a moment ago?

Berserker gave her a thumbs up momentarily before resuming his fighting stance. Megumin gripped her staff bracing for anything. Berserker kicked off flying towards Megumin. She threw her staff behind her, gripping it as she flew backwards. In her place dropped a jewel onto the ground, exploding in front of Berserker.

He slowly started to appear to accumulate damage, but he didn't seem to show any pain, or any signs of slowing down. He relentlessly pursued Megumin, who now flew straight into the air leaving another jewel. She was speeding up. She flew up far beyond what I could keep track of, and Berserker pursued her. The only way I could keep track of them was from the periodic explosions or when Berserker landed back on the ground just to jump up again after her.

Was this truly what a battle of servants was like? Megumin couldn't possibly take more than one or two blows from him, was there nothing I could do to help?

Clutching the two jewels I had in my hand, without realizing it I was channeling mana into them.

Megumin flew back to the ground before zig-zagging on the ground trying to shake him. Berserker hit the ground and started sprinting after her. It appeared Megumin was beginning to tire slowing down, but Berserker, true to his name, seemed to be pushing onwards, seemingly faster than before.  
He disappeared from sight and appeared in front of Megumin's path. She collided with him and her staff went flying. This was bad!

Berserker stepped up to her and struck her straight in the chest, she flew backwards slamming into a tree.

"Megumin!" I cried out.

She gave a brief thumbs up before sliding to the ground, coughing up blood. She waved her hand up, and her staff flew to her staff. She propped it on the ground to support herself before she fell over.

"Megumin! I will end this now, it was an honor to be able to fight with you. If you were in my world I'm sure you would be a world-class hero."

No, I don't want this. I didn't want to see her get hurt, I didn't want her to fight anymore. I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what. I was scared. Scared of Berserker, scared for Megumin, scared of getting hurt. But I realized, the thing that scared me most was not being able to do anything.

I wasn't even sure what I was doing anymore. This servant was clearly an honorable servant, so he would not bother with me without reason. Intentionally provoking him would normally be unthinkable. But I had my first friend here, I'm not sure how much longer we can be together, but I know I didn't want it to end now.

Looking down at my right hand where my jewels were I noticed a bright light. Opening my palm I saw the two jewels radiated far more than any of the others I ever held. These might work!

"Megumin! Get ready to cast Explosion!" I yelled.  
I couldn't make out her face under her hat, but wiping away her blood she gave a faint smile.

I threw the two gems towards Berserker. He struck one upwards but the other caught him in the chest before landing on the ground below him. The resulting explosion knocked him straight up into the air where he caught the explosion from the other gem knocking him back down. He coughed up blood, and slowly began dragging himself up.

 _Oh darkness I beseech thee, lend me your aid,_

 _The light before me shines above all others!_

 _Consume this light that stands before me,_

 _And bathe my foe in a crimson blaze!  
Burst forth, Explosion!_

Berserker had barely pulled himself up when a large magic circle appeared below and above him. He instinctively covered his face with his arms bracing for impact. The resulting explosion consumed the entire area, uprooting trees and bursting street lights. Megumin and I were knocked back our separate directions from the air pressure.

After the explosion and resulting smoke died down, Berserker stood in the same position, guarding his face. This time he was clearly damaged, but being able to stand after taking that much damage was quite frankly, amazing.

He coughed, with his ever present smile he looked towards Megumin and then me.

"I was wrong to ever underestimate the two of you. Megumin, you have a good master. However the Symbol of Peace cannot falter!"

I couldn't believe it. This Berserker…. No, All Might. He was completely amazing. It was like he was the main hero of an anime, how could we possibly beat him? That was everything we had.

Suddenly, I felt an uneasy presence approaching. My intuition had always been pretty good, perhaps something granted to me because of my magical background? But even so, since this Holy Grail War has started it has become even more reliable. I knew danger was coming.

"Megumin, be careful! Something's coming!"

Barely standing up, she threw off her hat and eye-patch. She glanced around for a moment and pointed her staff in the air. In the next moment, countless arrows rained down from the sky, striking All Might in the back forming a huge dust cloud. Megumin was pointing her staff and a magic circle blocked arrows coming to her.

Once the arrows stopped I yelled at Megumin to get us out of here. She seemed disappointed but the situation definitely was not favorable for us. Understanding the hopelessness of the situation, she pointed her staff towards me and flew over and grabbed my hand flying away.

Looking back at the battleground we had just created, the smoke settled and the sight I beheld betrayed all expectations. I expected to see All Might covered in arrows but while his shirt was in tatters, not a single arrow pierced his skin. They all lay on the ground around him. He glanced at us for a moment, then at the directions where the arrows came from, and leaped away in a separate direction. He appeared to be running away but I couldn't imagine why. The unknown Archer aside, Megumin and I should be easy targets at this point.

Whatever the case may be, the two of us barely escaped by the skins of our teeth.


	4. Chapter 3: I'll Pierce Your Heart!

Chapter 3

"Mai! I have to catch my breath hold on!"  
"Aren't you a servant? Do you guys even have to breathe?"  
"O-Of course! I think…"

Maybe she was right, I maybe just thought I had to catch my breath. After becoming a servant I seem to have gotten a lot stronger. But I'm still just getting used to this, except for Kyudo practice, I don't have anything close to resembling combat experience.

I had just fired an unbelievable amount of arrows at two servants who were fighting. Apparently being summoned as an Archer-class servant allowed me to be able to precisely determine the location of other servants that were nearby, when I told her I thought there was a fight near by she told me I should stay back and fire away like a sniper. It felt kind of underhanded but I'm not exactly cut out for fighting, I saw as much yesterday…

* * *

"I am the servant Archer, answering your summons. Um, that makes you my Master?"

I stepped forth out of the summoning circle. After being tempted to get my wish granted, I agreed to this but I was maybe not fully understanding what was going on. I guess I wasn't thinking straight, I just didn't want to the 9 of us to be apart.

"Oh my gosh, you're so cute! Are all servants like you?"  
"U-um, I'm not that cute, the others are all much better…"  
"The other servants? You know who they are?"  
"N-no, I mean my friends…"  
"Oh, I wish I could've brought them too. So can you show me what you can do?"

She seemed to be a very straight-forward type. I instinctively agreed, I must be used to dealing with this type of person from my past experiences after all. I walk over to the window nearby and summoned a bow in my hand. It has the feel of a typical bamboo bow I'd normally use, but for some reason it was bright pink. I didn't think much of it.

Upon being summoned, I gained a wealth of information about the Holy Grail War, my new combat abilities and even my Noble Phantasm. It's hopefully something I never have to use… So I already had a basic grasp of my new capabilities, pulling the string back an arrow materialized. I am able to skip through my typical breathing patterns and set-up allowing me to be much more accurate and quicker than usual, so without much effort I let loose an arrow at a nearby tree. I notch another arrow and fire. And another, each arrow splitting the arrow fired previously. I smile and look at my Master.

"Oh that's cool, but that's not what I meant. I wanted to hear you perform!"  
"Wh-what!? How did you know about that?"  
"Well, for one thing the catalyst I used was a dvd of a live from one of my favorite idols after all. If I think of something that inspires heroism I couldn't think of anything else that fit the bill. Also… the way you're dressed…"

I look down and gasp. Knowing that I was summoned as an Archer, I fully expected to be wearing my Kyudo Gi, however what I was actually wearing was similar to one of my idol outfits. It was a light blue outfit with a pink ribbon across my chest. Feeling my head, I also had a frilly headband that I could only imagine matched my ribbon. And the skirt…

"Why is this so short!? Who made me wear this? Was it you!"  
"Uh I didn't pick it, actually if I did I might've made the skirt shorter…."  
"..."

Was this really much different than what I dealt with back home?

Thinking about it, I actually had a few abilities that had nothing to do with fighting, but performing. I wonder if that old guy had something to do with it. Wanting to try it out I changed my bow into a microphone.

"Well… I guess..."

Music began playing out of nowhere, actually it was a familiar song. It's a very appropriate song, the song that started my journey with my friends to become School Idols is also going to start my battle to keep us together. Pulling my microphone in, I began singing, "I say…"

* * *

After the song was over, she clapped excitedly. It was pretty embarrassing performing by myself but I was happy she liked it.

"You're amazing, you're so good with a bow and you're a great singer too! I summoned really summoned the best servant"

She ran up to me and hugged me tight. Too close…

"But your dance seemed kind of off didn't it?"

She was very observant about this type of thing, I wonder if she has practical experience with Idols as well?

"Yeah, I didn't mean to but I ended up dancing the routine for the song as well. It wouldn't look right by myself after all, since there's supposed to be 8 others with me.  
"Oh your friends right? Aw, I wish I could see all of you perform together, you think I could make that my wish? Hah, just kidding."

I chuckled nervously, I'd like more than anything to perform with all of them again actually, it was _my_ wish after all.

"So um, Master, how do you think we should proceed?"  
"First, I need you to do something for me."

She got really serious, I got a little nervous as this was the first time she showed such an expression.

"I need to you stop calling me Master, my name is Mai Oshiro."  
"Okay, Ms. Osh-"  
"Absolutely not! Call me Mai"  
"O-okay… Mai."  
"Well first things first I need to find a place to put your abilities to use"  
"Alright."

It seemed like she was thinking of a strategy to use my Archer-class abilities. She might be a very astute Master after all.

"We need to find a stage for you to perform for everyone!"

Or not.

"W-wait what!? Don't you mean we have to prepare for the Holy Grail War!"  
"Oh yeah we could do that too, but that doesn't sound as fun" She smiled.

She dragged me out the door of what appeared to be her home and we ran down aways towards an empty park. She didn't seem like she was breaking a sweat at all, without my capability as a Servant I might've collapsed halfway through despite all the training I put in, needless to say I was quite impressed with her fortitude.

"Here, you should perform here tomorrow to try to gather a crowd! And maybe if you stick out enough we can attract other servants!"  
"Well… I guess it's a plan."

We set to work cleaning up the area a bit, there's a nice little elevated platform nearby that should do nicely as a makeshift stage. Mai stood up and began imitating my movements for Start:Dash! Her movements were pretty good, she might make a good Idol if she put her mind to it.

I thought that until she began to try to sing however. Chalkboards are mostly gone from schools these days but I imagine her voice was what scratching one sounded like. I immediately fumbled the rubbish I was clearing away and shivered.

"Tee-hee, sorry I'm not a very good singer. I wanted to be an Idol when I was young but as you can see it's not going to work out."

She was smiling, but it wasn't her usual smile. For the first time since I met her she showed me a fake smile. A smile that said she was trying to be strong. I wouldn't be surprised if her wish had something to do with this. If I could, I'd like to be able to help her somehow.

My thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of a servant fast approaching This must be sheer coincidence because there's now way any other servants should be able to track me as I am now, Archer-class servants are supposed to be the best at tracking and top tier in the realm of stealth. So while not actively using any of my abilities I should be completely invisible to other Servant's senses.

"Mai! Get back and hide!" I ordered her, I wasn't sure if I could protect her if she was nearby after all. She complied and ran a ways taking protection behind a tree.

I turn around, it was a young man, maybe even a teenager, riding a light blue bicycle towards us. He seemed to be carrying a convenience store bag and he wore what looked like the uniform for a generic fast food restaurant.

Normally I'd think nothing of this, seeing someone getting off work and grabbing something to eat from the convenience store on the way home was a natural occurrence.

What was unnatural about this was this wasn't a normal person, this was a Servant!

Before getting too close to me he stopped pedaling, pulled out the kickstand, and hung his bag on the handlebars. He looked at me for a moment before revealing a slightly mischievous grin.

"Ah, you must be another Servant."

Even with my ability to hide my presence from other Servants, if they were to physically lay eyes on me they'd be able to immediately tell what I was.

"Yes. Good evening sir, I am the Servant Archer. May I ask your name?"  
"Yeah, I'm Rider, pleased to meetcha."  
"Um, I don't mean to be rude but… you're the Rider-class servant? So you…" I couldn't finish my sentence.  
"Yeah, I'm Rider, and my steed is the only one befitting the Demon Lord Satan! Dullahan!"

No matter what he called it, all I saw was a bicycle. A single-speed bicycle no less. I decided not to push the matter further, I didn't want to make him angry since he seemed quite proud of it.

He began to lightly stretch his body, he seemed to have a regular calisthenics routine.

"Gotta make sure I don't pull a muscle…" He seemed to be a very forthright person, despite being… the Demon Lord Satan?

"W-Wait, you're Satan! The evil overlord of hell? I can't do this…" I began to back away chuckling nervously.

"Oh, no, I'm just named after that guy. Well I was a Demon Lord but not the one you're thinking of. I'm no longer qualified to be called a Demon Lord though, I wouldn't be here as a Servant looking like this if I were after all."  
"That makes sense…" I felt slightly relieved. I wasn't sure how I'd fare against the fated enemy of all of heaven.

"Alright! Let's go, Archer! Behold and cower in fear as I draw my blade! The sight of which is powerful enough to steal away souls!" In his hand a weapon appeared covered in dark light. The light gave way and began to form in his hands. What type of weapon befit a former Demon Lord I wonder?

"What the hell, why do I have a push-broom? What kind of weapon is this!" He threw it to the floor and it bounced back up striking him in the face. Rubbing his face he picked it back up and sighed.

"A-are you okay Rider?" I asked a bit worried. It looked like it hurt.  
"Well whatever, let's go Archer."

I nodded and summoned my bow. Regardless of his looks he was still a Servant, even someone like me with no redeeming qualities other than being a little bit decent with a bow is infinitely more powerful as a Servant, I couldn't underestimate him.

We stared at each other for the briefest of moments. I notched an arrow and fired. He immediately hit it away with his broom. I notched another, and another, and another. No matter how many I shot he proceeded to knock them away one by one. This was bad, he seemed pretty strong after all.

He charged at me with his broom and thrust it towards my head. I blocked it with my bow and kicked off the ground leaping high into the air. I halted my descent and created a platform to place my feet on.  
"Hey that's a cool trick, but um, why is it a big rotating heart? And speaking of which your outfit doesn't seem much suited to fighting, are you one of those Idols?"  
"I don't think you have any right to comment on my outfit you part-timer!"  
"Hey! This outfit is the pride of the MgRonald Corporation and its employees! I demand you take that back!"

He threw his broom towards me so fast I was unable to react. My platform shattered and I tumbled towards the ground. He began running towards me before I launched a volley of arrows. I notched a single arrow, but dozens shot out however spinning his broom he blocked every single one. It halted his advance momentarily but he was slowly inching closer.I had to think of something else, some way to break through.

I took a deep breath and concentrated, my analytical ability for the path of arrows increased exponentially since becoming a servant, so I should be able to handle this.

Amidst the various trees that stood up in the park, I began to fire arrows in seemingly random directions. After firing a dozen or so in total, Rider looked puzzled, and began to charge me thinking I left an opening. I waited for him to reach me before I leaped up in the air. I flipped over Rider as he thrust towards me with his broom, just afterwards the arrows I fired finished their journey through the trees bouncing around and all converged on the spot where Rider now stood. Realizing this, he spun around in a circle knocking as many of them down as possible but one pierced his shoulder and another his thigh.

"Gah!" He screamed in pain.  
"I'm sorry! I hope it didn't hurt that much" I was genuinely worried, regardless of what lay ahead for me, I never actually fired an arrow at another person in my life, or dealt any physical pain towards another so this was difficult.  
"What are you an idiot! Of course it hurt!" His words sounded more angry than he actually seemed. He grimaced as he pulled the arrows out

"Oh, Archer that was amazing! You just came out and shot the arrows like whiz and bam!"

Mai had revealed herself, a mild headache began forming and I began to rub my head.

"H-hey Mai you need to stay hidden, what if he tries to attack you! This is a genuine former Demon Lord!"  
"Oh I wouldn't do something so underhanded, don't worry about it. You're my opponent Archer."

Holding one of my arrows he gripped it tight until it broke and proceeded again. For a former Demon Lord he seemed to be pretty honorable.

Maybe… maybe I could do this after all. I took a deep breath as he was charging me again, I attempted to do the same thing, but this time before I could leap out of the way he pulled me down and slammed me down on the ground and dropped to avoid the incoming arrows. Hitting the ground hurt, but I immediately forgot about the pain after the position he was in. He was laying on top of me with our faces almost touching.

"Kyah!" I screamed as I slapped him. I wasn't all that comfortable around the opposite sex, it's a given since I don't have many interactions with them so having a male so close was quite startling.

"Ow, what the hell!"  
"Y-you were on top of me!"  
"Because you tried to shoot a bunch of arrows at me!"

At this point our fight was turning into a battle of words more than anything. After a brief pause, he looked back at his bike and bag from the convenience store and began to panic.

"Crap, the ice cream is melting, we'll finish this later Archer! I have a no-fail mission from my Master so I'll let you off easy this time!"

He ran over to his bike, grabbed his bag and took off at a speed that would make most race car drivers jealous. I stared blankly at his direction, wondering what just happened to me.

* * *

Yep, that was me. We didn't finish our fight, but if I were to score it I'd probably give it to him. Thus I lost to a part-timer with a broom and bicycle. I mean he did say he was a former Demon Lord but not a single thing about him confirmed that.

We arrived at the area I sensed the two servants at, examining the area I determined that both servants got away. Even with a surprise attack while they were both fighting each other I couldn't beat anyone. I'm really not cut out for this am I?

"Sorry, Mai, I couldn't do anything…"  
"What're you talking about? That was amazing! How'd you shoot so many arrows at once? Can you teach me to do that?"  
"S-sorry it's something I can do only because I'm a Servant, but I could teach you the basics of Kyudo if you'd like"  
"Hm, that doesn't sound as fun, let's think of another place you can perform next instead!"

She dragged me along with her to find another venue. Mai seems quite whimsical but our short live did seem to attract a servant, I wonder if she's much more cunning than she appears to be. It's a shame she didn't summon someone more useful, hopefully I can find the opportunity to do something for her as well.


	5. Chapter 4: Love Arrow-

Chapter 4

"Everyone, thank you!"

I yelled as cheers erupted from the crowd. It's much smaller than I'm used to but it's still pretty nerve-wracking especially alone. Just a year ago I don't think I could've imagined doing this in front of others let alone without everyone. Performing alone is refreshing in its own way but something still feels like it's missing. I'm not confident about it but we need to find a way to win this.

I leaped down off of the makeshift stage and Mai immediately ran up to me and hugged me as the crowd dispersed around us. Normally without a true backstage I wouldn't be able to escape the notice of the crowd after a performance but as a Servant I'm able to divert their attention away from me when I need to.

"That was so great Archer!"  
"I'm not sure if this will really help attract other servants…"  
"Huh? Was that the point of this?"

I began rubbing my forehead. I should be used to dealing with this type of person by now, acting on whatever whim holds their attention at the moment. Instead of focusing on the Holy Grail War, she spent the day finding a location, making flyers and handing them out to anyone willing to listen. Thanks to that she managed to gather a small crowd, something it took our whole group to manage in our early days. Despite her lack of focus her effort definitely wasn't lacking.

She grabbed my hand and began dragging me around town. I switched from my battle outfit, which was honestly just a typical idol uniform, and into my regular school uniform. Although I can hide myself from people's attention it's just easier to blend in normally. It's not a uniform from any school in the area but it's less conspicuous. Also it's a little embarrassing even if no one's looking.

We ended up stopping by a Burger Queen to grab food, Mai wanted a celebration after my performance. I didn't need to eat per se, but it was helpful to recover my energy and it was also just comforting. Apparently typical Servants don't need to consume food, or even remain in the physical world but as I and the others aren't typical Heroic Spirits summoned there's several limitations we face. I suspected it was because I'm not even a spirit by nature. I'm not sure how the others are, but I was just a regular second-year high school student before coming here.

"Welcome!"

We were greeted enthusiastically by the young man manning the register. His uniform was different, gone was the red polo with golden arches but this was unmistakably him.

"Can I take your or… wait it's you"

Rider and I stared at each other. His face contorted in odd angles once he realized who I was. I can only imagine I was doing the same. I'm not sure how the rest of the Servants are but given Rider was about to ask if I wanted fries with that, I can imagine he is similar to me in nature.

"Yeah yeah, what do you want?"  
"Where'd all your enthusiasm go, Rider?"  
"Listen you, my employee handbook says I treat all customers with the dignity and respect they deserve."  
"What're you trying to say!"  
"Oh, you two seem to be getting along pretty well after fighting. It's like they say 'the ground hardens after it rains'" Mai said something completely absurd.  
""How are we getting along!""

I didn't have the energy for this right now…

"Alright, we'd like to take our order please, I'll have a number one, and she wants a number one, and an extra side of fries!" Mai began ordering for us… wait just how much does she think I can eat?

We took a seat and shortly afterwards Rider brought us our food. It wasn't any of my business but I was kind of curious what he was doing here so I had to ask.

"Hey Rider weren't you supposed to be a Demon Lord in your old world? Why are you working at a Burger Queen?"  
"I had no choice! I couldn't bear to work for one of our bitter rivals but there was no MgRonalds in the area! I couldn't stay too far away in case something happened to Master… I feel like burning this uniform every time I put it on!"  
"Uh, no I meant… why are you working in general?"  
"I can't very well let my skills fade while I'm acting as a Servant can I?"

His skills… at working at a fast food restaurant? His circumstances are much more complicated than they seem. Well whatever, he seems like a guy who takes his responsibilities seriously so I doubt we have anything to worry about while we're here.

Mai stood up and took a closer look at Rider. Her crimson twin-tails almost touching his chest. He seemed taken aback for a moment as Mai inched closer.

"Hey your name tape doesn't say Rider on it!"  
"Of course! What kind of name is Rider!? What am I supposed to do, walk into my interview and tell them 'I'm Rider, a Servant taking part in a magical war but in reality I'm a Demon Lord from another world.'"

I was curious so I took a closer look at his name tape.  
"Sadao, huh? Who names their kids that these days?"  
"That joke was already done leave it alone!"

He stomped away leaving me mildly confused.

After enjoying our food we left the restaurant, Rider gave a curt "Come back again" as we were leaving, clearly hoping we wouldn't ever be back. I wasn't actively searching for servants previously so I didn't notice we would be coming up on Archer, however Mai brought us right to him. I seriously can't tell if this is just dumb luck or if Mai is much more capable than either of us realizes.

* * *

Upon leaving the restaurant, much to the delight of Rider, Mai tugged at my sleeve trying to drag me this way or that. Likely she wanted to stage another production, but I thought it was time to make her get a bit serious. At the very least I need to do some scouting of the area to keep us safe while we figure out what to do.

"Mai, wait"

I stopped where was, letting her hand slip off my sleeve.

"Huh? Archer? Is everything okay?" She sounded worried.

I learned a long time ago that at times like this I have to be stern with a person like this. To keep her on the right track.

"It's a bit dangerous to run around at will, I think it's important for us to focus on the Holy Grail War. I'm not sure how much I can do in battle but I at least need to scout the area and try to keep us safe."

I felt bad, maybe my voice was more stern than usual because Mai's personality was just like _her's_ and it brought out that side in me, as if I had to be the voice of reason to her.

"Huh? Aren't you doing that the same time? I mean it's more efficient to multi-task when we can right? Also this will help keep your skills up for when you go back… and I get to have fun watching so isn't it a win-win?"

I had to catch my jaw before it completely hit the floor. Did she really have that type of motive behind this the whole time? Maybe I'm the one at fault for letting my guard down so much… I mean we literally walked into Rider's lair without me even noticing.

"I-I'm sorry!"

I said while lowering my head a bit. I've taken her a bit lightly. Mai was right, there was no reason I couldn't do both at the same time. I was previously just stopping and feeling for servants when I had a need to, blocking my senses thinking that it was some special ability I had as an Archer-class servant. But it's not an ability at all but rather another sense. I was doing something similar to shutting off my other senses to improve one, but the rest of the time I was just ignoring this sense of mine because I'm just not used to having it.

"Huh? What's wrong Archer?"  
"You helped me realize something as a Servant which is a little embarrassing. Also I never thought you've had such a plan all along"  
"Well of course not, I just made it up, but it makes sense doesn't it?"

She grinned at me stinking her tongue out mischievously.

Opening my mind to that sixth sense of mine, I felt another world open up. It wasn't just servants, or even people in general. Animals, buildings, trees, I could see and feel them all around me. Actually even my sense of sight and hearing seemed to improve greatly. It should've been obvious from the start, but my mind was blocking off all this extra information because I never thought to access it. It's after all not something I could've done before becoming a Servant.

Now I'm even able to hear the footsteps of those approaching even through all the noise from the city. Wait, something's not right, I hear two pairs of footsteps approaching from behind me but I only sense one presence… But that's impossible I should be able to detect everyone, even Servants though I may not be able to identify them as such unless they're using their magic power. Wait- there is possibly one who can hide his presence to this degree. I turned around to greet them.

"Assassin, I take it?"

The pair stopped in their tracks. One was a high school boy wearing his school uniform carrying his bag in his hand. He had glasses and dark grey hair. The one next to him however wore a hakama with a red top which matched his long red hair. He had a cross-shaped scar and wore a katana at his side.

"That's quite an impressive observation." He spoke quite cordially, his speech matched that of a Samurai drama on TV.

"Your servant doesn't seem half-bad, does she Mai?"  
"Huh, Souma? What're you doing here?"

She seemed flustered, they clearly had some sort of history but she never mentioned knowing any of the other Masters. Given her personality I wouldn't think she was intentionally hiding it, but there had to be some reason why she never mentioned it before.

"Clearly, we're here for the Holy Grail War. I don't have time to play around like you are, I intend to win."  
"Huh, you're pretty dedicated aren't you? You've changed a bit from before"

"And you haven't changed a bit, Mai."

Certainly there was a history between the two. In any other world I'd have liked to see them resolve their differences, but putting them on separate sides of a battle royale like the Holy Grail War doesn't really allow for that.

"Assassin, take that Servant down."  
"I apologize for this but it seems like we will have to cross blades."

Assassin pulled out his katana, but something seemed off about it. I'm not exactly an expert on Katana's so I couldn't place my finger on it though. My school uniform glowed bright and transformed into my Idol uniform and I summoned my pink bow in my right hand. I really have to be the only Archer in history to dress like this.

"Mai, please step aside, he seems really strong."

She nodded and took a safe distance away. We stared at eachother on the now-empty street. It seemed like when Servants gathered to battle, the area formed some type of barrier that kept normal people away. Even the nearby stores were empty. It's rather convenient because I'm not sure I'd be able to concentrate otherwise.

Assassin took a step forward, sliding his trail foot as he did so. It was just a step, but his presence was so intimidating that I took a step back out of reflex. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally as if attempting to break the silence, he broke out in a dash towards me.

I leapt backwards firing a hail of arrows towards him. He used his katana to chop down just the arrows that were on target, the rest flew safely past him. Not being able to even slow down his approach, he got to me in no time. I diverted his downward slash with my bow. Without losing speed he spun around and came down at me again. In my free hand I created an arrow and used the arrowhead to push it away.

He was good, really good, quite frankly I don't think I stood much of a chance, but for my sake and Mai's, I wanted to win. No, I had to win.

I leapt away and dashed into an alleyway I climbed higher by jumping between buildings while firing an arrow into the air. I thought my movement going up was already insane, but Assassin simply ran up the wall towards me. However in this small confined space he shouldn't be able to swing freely so I launched a barrage as he climbed. Instead of using his blade however, he drew his scabbard and used it to deflect the oncoming barrage. My goal however wasn't to do damage here, I simply wanted to slow him down to get the timing right.

My arrow flew down faster aided by gravity. He seemed to sense what was going on however and flipped backwards, barely letting it knick his leg.

I began leaping backwards forming a staircase of my heart-shaped platforms to gain a height advantage on him while I continued to fire at him to attempt to slow him down. After reaching a height well above all buildings in the area I paused. He leaped after me until he reached the platform right before me. Simultaneously he sheathed his katana and prepared to draw it again while I had a arrow pointed at his face.

We stood like this for about one second, but it seemed to last an hour. Despite being inches away from my bow, I fully expected him to cut down the arrow. Instead, I aimed down and shot. He seemed confused at first, but the platform below him disappeared, and gravity drew him down towards the earth. Aiming down, I drew a single arrow and poured my magic power into it. It glowed brightly and I let it fly. A large arrow fired towards him and exploded in the ground below. Knowing this wasn't enough, I continued to rain countless arrows down towards the crater created from his fall.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryukansen"

As the smoke settled, Assassin stood with his katana drawn the arrows forming a clean circle around him. He exhaled slowly and sheathed his Katana keeping his hand ready to draw at any time. I dropped down a short distance in front of him.

"You are quite skilled for someone with no formal training or combat experience, Archer"  
"Coming from you, that doesn't sound like an insult."  
"It very much is a compliment that it is. However you would do well to realize that you shouldn't hold back in a battle that you must win."  
"I… I'm not holding back, how could I be!?"

I was legitimately confused, what was I holding back? I was doing everything I could to just keep up with him.

"Your Noble Phantasm, is it really smart for you to hold it back against me while I'm using mine?"

It's true, the technique was beyond comprehension. The one he used as he was falling to the ground was so quick I could barely keep up with my heightened senses. It's not like I wanted to hold it back but…

"I… I can't use it. It's embarrassing to use after all!"  
"Huh?"

He seemed confused, and I don't blame him. It… is embarrassing but that's not the only reason.

"Hey Assassin! Stop giving her hints and finish her off" His Master yelled from a distance.  
"My my, I have quite the impatient master don't I?"

He sunk into his stance and dashed towards me. Drawing his Katana in a flash, I barely managed to block with my bow, but the impact blew me straight backwards a bit. He continued his assault as I continued to do my best to avoid a critical hit. I blocked left, right, left… it went on for countless blows. He thrusted his Katana at me and caught my bow at the string and pulled it away from me, shortly after getting a clean hit on my chest and knocking me back into a tree. I almost passed out as the pain shot across my entire body but for some reason still alive, his katana… it had no edge?

Stumbling sideways, using the tree to support myself, I prepared my bow and stared at Assassin. Even a short distance was cleared by him in an instant. I didn't have any chance, I didn't want to use it… for various reasons, but did I have much of a choice in this situation? I guess not.

He leaped towards me once again but I resolved to do it. I blocked his katana and with all my might I pushed him back while leaping backwards to create some distance. I drew my bow, this time mimicking my typical Kyudo stance. I carefully controlled my breathing, forming a bright red arrow in my hand. Carefully bringing it sideways to my bow I held the drawstring tight. For the first time, Assassin looked on guard, clearly not knowing what to expect. At this distance I had a clear advantage over him after all. As I poured all my magic power into my arrow, he drew his katana and performed an upwards slash dragging his blade on the ground.

"Doryusen!"

Time seemed to slow down around me. My already heightened senses became even more sensitive. Chunks of the cement came flying towards me, they shouldn't be much of an issue for me like this, however. I looked towards Assassin, behind the debris Assassin was currently exposing his body as his blade's moment slowly carried itself overhead. I could win, I could do this.

"I'll pierce your-"

I hesitated, I couldn't do it after all. I… just wasn't cut out for this.

"Mai… I'm sorry"

The chunks struck me in the chest carrying me skyward. The last words I heard before blacking out were…

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryutsuisen"

* * *

"Archer!"

I… I don't like fighting. But I'm not so ignorant to think I expected to get through this without fighting. It's not like I didn't have a wish, we all do. I thought I'd be able to tough it out to achieve it. But the second I laid eyes on her after I summoned her, I didn't think there was any reason for her to get hurt. Idols are supposed to be our goals, they were supposed to be beyond reach. An Idol should never have to experience the pain and suffering that accompanied battle.

I know she had her wish as well, and it was selfish of me but… I was hoping she could avoid direct fighting if at all possible for the duration, even if it meant neither of us getting our wishes fulfilled.

She lay on the ground unconscious as the other Servant walked up to her. She called him Assassin, so he had to be about to strike a finishing blow right? That's what Assassin's do in stories and stuff after all. She didn't deserve this, she deserves to be higher than this to inspire people like me who look up to her. This… this can't be my last image of her, I won't let it!

I looked down at my hand, the symbol looked like two halves of a heart over a full moon. That's right. I still had these. I drew my hands to my heart as if I was praying… maybe I really was actually.

"Archer, you need to survive!"

Both the moon and Archer began disappearing from sight before us.


End file.
